OTTAWA — Canada’s federal politicians returned to Parliament Hill Wednesday for a new session that will start a long political battle towards the next election in 2015.

The Conservative government’s throne speech was to be read in the Senate chamber late Wednesday afternoon by Gov. Gen. David Johnston, but members of Parliament and senators began their day gathering in closed-door meetings with their fellow party caucus members on the Hill.

Opposition parties were gearing up for the opportunity to once again put the government on the defensive on issues such as the Senate expense scandal once the session’s first question period is held in the Commons Thursday.

In a speech to his caucus Wednesday morning, Harper took partisan jabs at his political rivals, saying the Tories would not impose a carbon tax or legalize marijuana. The references were to NDP leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, respectively.

There’ll be no reckless economic experiments with people’s livelihoods. #SFT13#cdnpoli

This fall, the Tories are attempting to turn the page on several months of bad publicity — much of it over the Senate expense scandal that reached right into Harper’s office — with a throne speech that casts a more positive light on the government.

In recent days, government ministers and officials have not been shy about leaking some of the broad strokes of the speech. It will proclaim that the economy is the government’s first priority and re-commit the government to eliminating the deficit in 2015, when Canadians next go to the polls.

This commitment will free up funds for the governing Tories which they can then use as election promises. Among them is an unfulfilled pledge from the last election that would give income tax breaks to couples with children under the age of 18.

Also in the throne speech, the governing Tories will re-brand themselves as the party that stands up for consumers and the middle class.

The government will promise measures to “end price discrimination against Canadians” by closing the gap between the price of consumer goods sold in Canada and the United States, such as appliances, clothing and household products.

Other promises expected include:

Forcing cable and satellite TV providers to offer “pick-and-pay” channel options for customers, along with bundled channel plans currently available;

An airline passenger bill of rights that identifies compensation for people bumped off overbooked flights;

Capping cellphone roaming fees and increasing competition in the Canadian wireless sector;

Increasing high-speed broadband networks in rural Canada;

Continued focus on a law-and-order agenda that is expected to include a victims’ bill of rights that makes the justice system more sensitive to the needs of crime victims;

A renewed aboriginal agenda, including bill to improve First Nations education, and commitments to improve consultation with aboriginals on natural resource projects and economic development;

Celebrating Canadian heritage and history, including Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, and the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

The Conservatives began the day in a dust-up with news media, after Harper’s office said cameras, but not reporters, would be allowed into the caucus meeting briefly to record his remarks at the start.

The last time Harper allowed the media into the caucus occurred in May, two days after the resignation of his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, for giving $90,000 of his own money to Sen. Mike Duffy to pay off his housing expenses. At that caucus meeting, journalists shouted questions at Harper about the scandal, but the prime minister ignored them.

On Wednesday, Harper’s directive to keep reporters out of the caucus room sparked a backlash from the media. All but one of the TV networks — Sun TV — refused to send in their cameras unless reporters were allowed to accompany them.

Meanwhile, across the hall from the Tories, the NDP allowed cameras and reporters to briefly enter their caucus room.